Buying a Villa in Spain That Needs Renovation

Buying a villa in Spain that needs renovation can give you a better location, a larger plot or a house you can shape around your own life. The risk lies in what you cannot see at a viewing: the legal status of what was built, the condition of the structure and installations, and what the town hall will actually let you do. Checking those points before you make an offer is what separates a good purchase from an expensive lesson.

Start with the right expectations

Many villas on the Costa Blanca were built between the 1970s and the 2000s. They often have generous plots and good positions, but also single glazing, little or no insulation, dated installations and layouts that turn away from the view. That is precisely why they come to market as renovation opportunities.

Before viewing, be honest about what you want to change. Opening up a layout, enlarging windows, adding a terrace or extending the house are very different propositions from updating a kitchen and bathrooms, both in cost and in what permits are needed.

Commission a pre-purchase survey

In Spain, a building survey is not a standard part of the buying process, so you need to arrange one yourself. Use an independent architect or arquitecto técnico, ideally one who knows the area and can also comment on what is likely to be permitted.

A useful survey for a renovation purchase covers:

• Structure: cracks in walls and slabs, signs of movement, the condition of any visible reinforcement, retaining walls on sloping plots.
• Roof and terraces: waterproofing, drainage, the condition of tiles and flat roof terraces. Leaks after heavy autumn rain (DANA) are a common finding.
• Damp: rising damp in ground-floor walls, condensation, water ingress around windows and below terraces.
• Installations: age and condition of electrics, plumbing, drainage and septic systems where there is no mains connection, heating and air-conditioning.
• The pool: structure, leaks, equipment and whether it was built with the right permits.
• Joinery and glazing: condition of frames, especially near the sea where salt air takes its toll.

Ask the surveyor to separate urgent issues from cosmetic ones, and, where possible, to give a sense of the scale of remedial work. This is the information you need to negotiate.

Check the legal status of what has been built

This is the step that most often catches international buyers out. What exists on the plot may not match what was legally authorised or what is recorded in the official registers.

Licences

Ask for the original building licence and the licence of first occupation or equivalent documentation. Then check whether later additions, such as an extra bedroom, a closed-in terrace, a garage conversion, a guest annexe or a pool, had their own permits.

Cadastre and Land Registry

Spain has two separate records. The Catastro (cadastre) is a tax register that describes the property’s physical characteristics; the Registro de la Propiedad (Land Registry) records ownership and legal rights. It is not unusual for the built area in one to differ from the other, or from what is actually on the ground.

Discrepancies are a warning sign that something may have been built without being declared. They can sometimes be regularised, but that may involve technical work, fees and taxes, and in some cases it may not be possible at all.

Undeclared extensions and pools

An undeclared extension or pool can affect your mortgage, your insurance, a future sale and, critically, your ability to get a licence for your own renovation. A town hall may not grant a licence for works on parts of a building that are not legally established.

Your lawyer, working with your architect, should check the urban planning status of the property with the ayuntamiento. This is general guidance, and the position always depends on the specific property and municipality.

Coastal law

If the villa is close to the sea, check whether it falls within the Ley de Costas protection easement. This is generally 100 m from the inner limit of the shore, or 20 m in some urban land classified before 1989, and it restricts what works are allowed. A house with a spectacular frontline position may offer much less scope for extension than its plot suggests.

Community and urbanisation rules

If the villa is part of an urbanisation with a community of owners, ask for the statutes and recent minutes. They may restrict external changes, colours or working hours, and they will show whether any significant community costs are coming.

Ask the town hall what you can do

A survey tells you what is there; the town hall decides what can change. Permits are municipal, and in the Valencian Community each ayuntamiento applies regional planning law together with its own Plan General.

Before you commit, ask your architect for a preliminary view on:

• whether your intended works would be minor works under a declaración responsable or major works needing a licencia de obra mayor and a technical project;
• whether the plot has unused buildable area or is already at its limit;
• setbacks, height limits and any heritage or landscape protections.

Our guide to renovating property in Spain explains permits in more detail, and do you need an architect to renovate a house in Spain? covers when a technical project is required.

Budget the renovation before you offer

The purchase price is only part of the cost. Build a realistic renovation budget into your offer.

As a broad guide for the Costa Blanca in 2026, excluding VAT, fees and taxes: a cosmetic refresh runs roughly €300–€600/m², a full renovation to a good mid-to-high specification roughly €900–€1,500/m², and a high-end, architect-led renovation with reconfiguration roughly €1,500–€2,500+/m². Kitchens are roughly €25,000–€80,000+, bathrooms roughly €12,000–€35,000+ each, and pool refurbishment roughly €15,000–€60,000+ depending on scope.

Add municipal taxes and fees, professional fees, VAT and a contingency of 10–15%. Our article on villa renovation costs in Spain breaks these down.

If the survey reveals significant structural, damp or legal issues, use the findings in negotiation, or be prepared to walk away.

Using the time between reservation and completion

The weeks or months between agreeing a purchase and signing at the notary are valuable. Typically, a buyer pays a reservation deposit, then signs a private purchase contract with a larger deposit, and completes at the notary. Your lawyer will explain the specific terms and the consequences of withdrawing at each stage, which is why surveys and legal checks should be done before you are committed.

Once checks are complete and you are confident in the purchase, this period can be used productively:

• Refine the brief with an architect or designer.
• Begin measured drawings, if the seller allows access.
• Define scope, budget and likely timescales with whoever will manage the renovation.
• Plan the calendar, bearing in mind that a licencia de obra mayor commonly takes several months and that August slows suppliers and town halls.

Starting design before completion can save several months overall, but only commit money you are comfortable risking if the purchase does not go ahead.

Where CostaVeyra fits

CostaVeyra manages complete villa renovations on the Costa Blanca, from concept to completion. Before or just after you buy, we can look at the property with you, define the brief and an indicative budget, and check whether your timing is realistic. From there, we set the design direction, coordinate the architect and permits where needed, and plan and oversee the works with our project team and our network of trusted professionals, reporting to you throughout, which is particularly useful if you are buying from abroad. Read more about our approach to villa renovation on the Costa Blanca.

In short

• Commission an independent survey covering structure, roof, damp, installations and the pool before you offer.
• Check licences and compare the Catastro, the Land Registry and what is actually built; undeclared extensions and pools can block future licences.
• Check coastal law and community rules, and ask your architect what the town hall is likely to permit.
• Build the full renovation budget, including taxes, fees, VAT and a 10–15% contingency, into your offer.
• Complete checks before committing, then use the period before completion to advance design and planning.